Catskills

[Penn-J]

My employer informed us that they are cutting back our hours and we are going to have Fridays off (without pay of course) for a few months untill things pick back up. I'm bummed about the lighter paycheck but happy about the longer weekends! I also have 4 vacation days left so i'm thinking I can have 4, 4 day weekends comming up for backpacking trips! Whoo Hoo!

I live in Pennsylvania and have the trail maps for the Catskills in New York.
I've never been there and from looking at the maps there seems like there are a couple loop possibilites.

I was wondering if anyone can suggest a good 2,3, or 4 day trip.

Thanks,

Jeff (Penn-J)

[Toolshed]

Jeff - there is a Catskills Yhoo group as well as a lot of folks from the following forums that hike there might be able to provide additional information for you:
ADKhighpeaks.com (Probably a better resource)
ADKForum.com
ViewsFromTheTop.com (the grandaddy)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/3500club/

[Penn-J]

Jeff - there is a Catskills Yhoo group as well as a lot of folks from the following forums that hike there might be able to provide additional information for you:
ADKhighpeaks.com (Probably a better resource)
ADKForum.com
ViewsFromTheTop.com (the grandaddy)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/3500club/

Thanks Toolshed!

[STEVEM]

Climb the mountains. There's plenty of ways to build loop hikes in the Catskills while bagging the higher peaks.

http://catskill-3500-club.org/

[Snowleopard]

My favorites so far are Cornell and Wittenberg, Black Dome and Blackhead. From where you are, some of the Western Catskills might be closest.
If you have more time to drive, try the Adirondacks also (skip the popular areas till after labor day). The ADKs are a huge area of wilderness ranging from spectacular mountains to hundreds of thousands of acres of old growth forest.
I second the websites that toolshed and STEVEM gave you.

[Highway Man]

Penn-J,
Nice seeing you here. I hope the greyhound trip back to PA for you was not that exhausting.
- Burroughs range, which includes Wittenberg, Cornell, Slide, or a short side trail to Giant Ledge is looped to Woodland State Campground parking lot. This is strenuous and relatively short, only good for one or two nights. There's not that much water there except at the saddle between Cornell and Slide, and down near the roadway from Slide.
- Devil's Path in the mid region is challenging and much longer, one of the most difficult trails in Catskills. You only can get water at the notches. You may need to hitch back to TH where you park your car. I've seen there are always decent amount of traffics over there, particularly during weekends in summer time.
- Windham, and Black head/Black Dome/Thomas Cole mountain ranges make a good loop for two or three days with a little road walk. The hike is between strenuous and moderate. I'm not too sure about water. You can also make a day trip to North/South Lake State Campground area. The view to Hudson valley on top of the escarpment is awesome.
- Southwestern part of Catskills such as Big Indian Wilderness, Balsam Lake Wild Forest...is less popular, and still can be looped with some hitch or/and road walk. They are from easy to moderate.
Plus, if you want to adventure a bit, do some bushwhacking. There're a lots of unmarked trails along the ridges to the peaks. Get a good map.

[WinterWarlock]

Jeff - there is a Catskills Yhoo group as well as a lot of folks from the following forums that hike there might be able to provide additional information for you:
ADKhighpeaks.com (Probably a better resource)
ADKForum.com
ViewsFromTheTop.com (the grandaddy)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/3500club/

ViewsFromtheTop doesn't have a whole lot of Catskill advice, but an awful lot of Whites and Greens advice in case you decide to scoot a bit further north. ADKHP has a lot, and a lot of knowledgeable and helpful people. Also, check out this website - he's on most of the forums listed above, but is also a lot of help if you contact him directly.

[Cookerhiker]

I was perusing the "Other Trails" forum for something else and found this thread on Catskills hiking.

[Penn-J]

Wow! Thanks for the info. everyone!
I think I'm gonna start with the Wittenberg-Cornell-Slide loop first.

[jersey joe]

Wow! Thanks for the info. everyone!
I think I'm gonna start with the Wittenberg-Cornell-Slide loop first.

The area around Slide is a great place to start exploring the Catskills. I used to hike up in the Catskills a lot because they were a lot more lenient in their campfire rules than NJ.

[thejackal]

catskill hiker has an unbelievable amount of information on his website:

http://www.catskillhiker.com/

routes and alternate routes for the 35 plus a whole lot more.

[stranger]

I don't know about 3 day loops, but there is plenty of good backpacking in the Catskills, I would recommend the following:
- Slide, Wittenburg, Cornell loop
- Devils Path
- Escarpment Trail
- Blackhead Range combined with Windham High Peak, semi-loop

Hope you like doing work...the Catskills are tough walking, but great walking

[thejackal]

in terms of slide/whittenberg/cornell, go to this link and scroll to the bottom for the catskill hiker's description and map:

http://www.catskillhiker.com/peaks/cornell.shtml

note that to extend this loop, you could do a side trip up panther. there is a lot of info on his site. you just have to be patient to find exactly what you want.